Larry Bird on the Pacers: 'We knew we had some problems'

“A lot of this has been brewing for a long time,” Larry Bird said about the Indiana Pacers.
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Story Highlights

Larry Bird says he backs head coach Frank Vogel 100 percent.

Metta World Peace attended the Pacers game Sunday.

Andrew Bynum could see big minutes in the playoffs.

Larry Bird had long sensed problems with the Indiana Pacers, so he communicated areas for coach Frank Vogel to clean up and tried to address the issues at the NBA trade deadline, but has not seen the positive changes since then.

In an interview with RTV6 as part of the ABC pregame telecast, Bird, the Pacers president of basketball operations, spoke about various topics surrounding the team. Bird conducted the interview a day after the Pacers' embarrassing 107-88 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, when the team scored a historically-low 23 points through the first half.

"A lot of this has been brewing for a long time," Bird said. "We knew we had some problems. So what I tried to do at trade deadline was try to fix them problems and now we're not playing well at all. We're all out of sync. Our defense is not carrying us the way it did earlier in the year and for us to have success, we got to be a top-notch defensive team."

Pacers C.J. Watson pushes Thunder's Reggie Jackson in the pick in the second half of their game Sunday, April 13, 2014, afternoon at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers defeated the Thunder 102-97.
Matt Kryger / The Star

Bird does not believe that the departure of nine-year Pacer forward Danny Granger disrupted team chemistry but followed up by saying: "(Players) complain at times about different things but they like one another."

Even when chemistry was never in question and the Pacers owned the best record in the NBA, Bird said that he and Vogel talked about fixing some problems like falling behind and needing strong third quarter comebacks.

"I back Frank 100 percent," Bird said. "There were some things earlier in the season, like I said, I went to him we need to clean everything up."

When interviewer Dave Furst brought up that Bird wanted Vogel to be tougher on the players, he responded: "That's not Frank's personality. That's my personality at times but it's not Frank's personality. I think Frank does it in his own way. I think all of us need to be held accountable. I always said that from the top to the bottom, because really your leadership starts at the top and works its way down to the trainers and everyone else. But it's a tough thing because we've never really been in this position. We've lost games and we've played bad but not on a consistent basis like we're doing well. We're not playing well, we know that."

Also, Bird addressed the future of Andrew Bynum who has only played in two games since being acquired by the Pacers. Bynum, 26, has been on the inactive list since mid March with swelling in his right knee.

"I'm not a doctor. Andrew's knee swelled. We want to get all the swelling out of there. We want to get him back slowly. Obviously we brought him in for one reason and that's the playoffs," Bird said. "People don't remember but two years ago, he's probably the best center in the league. So if we can get anything out of him, 15-18 minutes a game, he can play. We know he can play, it's just getting him out there. Now, how he'll react as far as coming back, we got to wait and see, but if he stays dry in his knee and keeps the swelling out of there, he'll be fine."

Much like the Pacers, the Oklahoma City Thunder steadily climbed to the top of their respective conference — from a 2010 first-round exit to the then defending champion Los Angeles Lakers to the Western Conference Finals the following year and the culminating NBA Finals appearance in 2012. And also much like the Pacers are currently experiencing, the Thunder had to overcome their share of challenges, namely in staying dedicated at the top.

"There were many challenges, it's hard to pinpoint one but if I had to pinpoint one, just continue to stay focused on what we have," coach Scott Brooks said about the Thunder's three-year rise. "Our goals at hand are just to improve everyday. Sometimes when you have success, you come back the next year and live off those past successes. Our group has never done that but it has always on the back of our minds to not allow that to happen. We always had the mentality to come back every day and get better, come back every summer and put your work in. Come back every year to (make) a better team but it starts with our leadership. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have done a good job of really leading our team every year."

Etc.

On Sunday, the Pacers snapped a three-game losing streak to the Thunder… With the final regular-season win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indiana improved to 35-6 at home, one away from matching the franchise record set during the 1999-2000 season…. Metta World Peace, the former Pacer who once went by Ron Artest, attended the game and on his way out of the arena, stopped to say hello and sign autographs for several fans yelling his old name. ... Trenton Wright of Avon was named the Pacers MVP Scholarship winner. He receives a $5,000 scholarship.